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The Mariners have an opportunity to close up what’s been a fairly miserable homestand with a series win, but whereas Bryan Woo would previously feel like a lock to keep the Mariners in it, he’s coming off back-to-back starts where he’s, in his own words, gotten his “ass kicked.” He’ll try to rally back today against (gulp) the powerful Braves lineup.

Lineups:

Even though the Braves are sending a lefty to the mound today, there’s no Rob Refsnyder in this lineup, as the DH spot is occupied by Cal Raleigh. Refsnyder is apparently dealing with knee stiffness and the team wants to keep him out of the field.

News:

Former Braves owner Ted Turner passed away today, which will certainly be a storyline in today’s game. You can read a writeup on the influence Turner had on the Braves at our sister site Battery Power.

Injury updates:

See above note re: Rob Refsnyder.

In other news: F/OF Brendan Donovan went 1-for-3 with 1 doubles and 2 walks yesterday in the first game of his rehab assignment with Double-A Arkansas. OF Victor Robles played for Triple-A Tacoma in his second rehab start and made three plate appearances with a walk and a strikeout. INF Patrick Wisdom also appeared in yesterday’s game with Triple-A Tacoma on rehab and took two walks. RHP Bryce Miller will start for Everett tonight; in what will hopefully be his last rehab start, he should be cleared to go as deep as five innings and 75-80 pitches, depending on how the game goes.

Roster moves:

The Braves made a roster move today, selecting INF Jim Jarvis to the major league roster and designating OF José Azócar for assignment.

Game information:

Game time: 1:10 PT

TV: Mariners TV, with Aaron Goldsmith and Dave Valle, with Angie Mentink as field reporter

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

For much of his Mariner tenure, George Kirby has carried the moniker “Furious George,” a tongue-in-cheek nod to his angry mound persona (his other nickname is “Angry Cheddar”, bestowed by Bryce Miller) and a play on the classic children’s book series about a curious monkey. But the 2026 version of George Kirby is a different animal altogether.

“I want to be a workhorse,” said Kirby after last night’s start, where he turned in seven strong innings against a red-hot Atlanta lineup, giving up just two runs on some bad-luck hits, including a fluky double that rolled down the right-field line at 71 mph off the bat of Mauricio Dubón.

So far, Kirby has been as good as his word: Kirby hit 52 innings pitched last night, good for second in all of MLB behind Yankees ace Max Fried. The three MLB pitchers to have eclipsed 50 innings so far this season are Fried, Kirby, and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara.

Those three pitchers also have something else in common: elite ground ball rates. Both Fried and Alcantara ranked within the top 20 in baseball last year in ground ball rates. Kirby, however, is a newer member of this club. After last night’s start against the Braves, Kirby’s groundball rate is up to 57.6% – fourth-highest in baseball, and second in the AL behind Anaheim’s Jack Kochanowicz.

Last season, maybe in an attempt to chase some more strikeouts and limit hard contact, Kirby dialed down his four-seamer, which he’d gradually been backing off of – he went from throwing it 45% of the time in his debut season to a low of 29% in 2025. In its place, he used his sweeper more heavily, a pitch he threw under 10% of the time in 2022 but compromised 28% of his arsenal by 2025. That tweak had the effect of creating more whiffs for Kirby, but also cost him some of his elite command – pushing him towards a nearly pedestrian walk rate of 5.5%. But the bigger knock-on effect was it cost him some of his efficiency; even accounting for the injury that held him out for part of the season, Kirby only completed seven innings three times, compared to six in 2024 and 11 in 2023.

Kirby says he hasn’t made any tweaks to his arsenal and he’s not exactly sure where all the ground balls are coming from, but he was able to hazard a guess.

“I think that’s just kind of what happens when you try and get strike one,” he said. “You’re in the zone a lot throwing quality strikes. So, the more ground balls, the better. Helps me go deeper in games and eventually get the swing and miss when I need it…As a starter, I want to go as deep in the game as possible and give my team the best chance to win. So if it’s ground balls, great, strikeouts, awesome. If it’s a little bit of both, even better.”

“I’ve always felt like contact can be your friend sometimes,” said manager Dan Wilson. “I think [Kirby] understands…ground ball outs are just as important.”

Maybe the biggest change for Kirby has been mentally. He’s spoken extensively this year about shifting his perspective about having runners on base, trying to let go when a fluky base hit happens (like the Dubón double last night) and refocus on the task at hand, not getting too wrapped up in the results of a prior pitch, especially one he felt he executed well but got poor results on.

“That stuff just doesn’t matter anymore, in the moment. I’m doing a better job of bringing my awareness back to the batter and forgetting about what just happened…I’m trying to just stay in control as much as possible in those moments and try to be the best I can. Not do too much, just go out there and attack and things usually work out.”

It’s something he’s worked on extensively with Mariners mental skills coach Adam Bernero, who has helped Kirby understand how to channel the emotion he feels on the mound in more productive ways and learn to let go of emotions that don’t serve him. Anger can be a motivating force; it can also, in excess, be toxic.

“Maybe, as a reliever, you can go full caveman,” said Bernero. “As a starter, that’s hard. You have to pick your spots.”

“Emotion can be a funny thing,” said Dan Wilson. “Emotion can be a great motivator, but when you let the emotion last too long, it can become a negative drag.”

“Sometimes you need a little bit of extra something, emotion, to kind of get you going. But for the most part I think George has done a really nice job of staying focused, staying right where he needs to be. And that’s been a huge step forward for him, and one that’s really paid dividends for him in helping him get deeper…And I think he’s done a great job of it and has been able to move on from things. We’ve seen it in different situations, whether it was reversed calls or reversed challenges, whatever happened. He’s able to bounce back and keep going. And I think that shows real maturity.”

Crowds tend to get hyped up around strikeouts; it’s a little harder to get them humming about a routine 4-3 putout. Efficiency is not sexy to the average baseball fan. But it’s something Kirby is learning to embrace.

“I think that’s what you should want to go do when you get out there, just go as long as you can,” he said. “I think that’s what matters the most. Like, the strikeouts are cool, the crowd – whatever. But the longer you stay out there, you’re doing your job. You’re doing your job for the bullpen, for the guys behind you. So that’s my focus.”

So in taking this more long-term view, has he let go of some of the persona of “furious George”?

“Oh no, it’s still in there,” he said after his last home outing against Texas. “I walked two guys today, I’m not very happy about it. But I’m using it in a different way. Use the anger as a weapon instead of something that would hold me back the last couple years. Use it more as fuel. It’s been feeling a lot better. You just gather your breath, just take a couple fast, quick exhales, get yourself going, get your body right for the moment you’re in. The more I can use anger to my favor, the better.”

It’s hard to stay furious for long. Anger is literally exhausting: it spikes adrenaline and cortisol levels and stresses your cardiovascular system. While one can manage its spikes, it’s not a sustainable emotion for the hours it takes to pitch deep into a baseball game. Furious George will still make an occasional appearance, but he’s being replaced by Steady Hand George, the workhorse.

“He was very efficient yesterday,” said manager Dan Wilson. “Workhorses find a way to be efficient and find a way to get deep into the game, and that’s what George did yesterday.”

Tyler Glasnow left his start on Wednesday afternoon against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park after only one inning, with the Dodgers right-hander suffering lower back pain per an announcement from the team.

Glasnow was warming up for the second inning when he felt something, and was quickly joined on the mound by catcher Dalton Rushing, manager Dave Roberts, head athletic trainer Thomas Albert and the entire infield. After a bit of deliberation, Glasnow walked off the field and into the clubhouse.

Glasnow allowed a solo home run in the first inning but also struck out a pair. His first strikeout, getting Yordan Alvárez looking on a curveball, was the 1,000th strikeout of Glasnow’s career. He’s the 576th pitcher in major league history with at least 1,000 strikeouts.

Prior to the injury, Glasnow was off to a good start this season, leading the Dodgers with 49 strikeouts with his 2.72 ERA. He led the team in innings (38 2/3) through the end of April.

Left-hander Jack Dreyer replaced Glasnow on the mound and pitched two scoreless innings to start a scramble of six pitchers who recorded the final 24 outs of Wednesday’s win.

The Atlanta Braves will look to improve to 6-0 in rubber matches and stay unbeaten in series with Wednesday afternoon’s 4:10 p.m. EDT series finale against the Seattle Mariners.

Martín Pérez will be tasked with making another start after he wasn’t used in the bullpen Tuesday night. Jim Jarvis, called up this morning, will make his major league debut at shortstop to give Jorge Mateo a day off.

Let’s baseball one more time before a high-stakes series this weekend against the Dodgers.

Game Info

Preview

Lineups

There's good news and bad news for Tyler Glasnow and Los Angeles Dodgers fans.

Good news for the Glasnow generals, or those who have him on their fantasy team, Glasnow recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in a start against the Houston Astros on May 6. He threw a curveball at Yordan Álvarez, one of the game's notable sluggers, who bit and missed, giving Glasnow strikeout No. 1,000.

The San Francisco Giants conclude their three-game series against the San Diego Padres this afternoon, and they’re hoping for a much-needed series win. We’re also hoping for that.

Taking the mound for the Giants is righty Adrian Houser, who is still trying to find his groove this season. Houser has made six starts this year, and is 0-3 with a 7.12 ERA, a 5.75 FIP, and 16 strikeouts against 10 walks in 30.1 innings. He gave up three earned runs in 4.2 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies his last time out, which, unfortunately, was one of his best starts of the year.

San Diego is opting for an opener, with righty Bradgley Rodriguez kicking things off. The 22-year old has appeared in 14 games this year, and is 0-1 with a 1.62 ERA, a 2.60 FIP, and 12 strikeouts to five walks in 16.2 innings. This is his first career start.

Enjoy the game everyone. Go Giants!

Lineups

Giants

1. Heliot Ramos — LF
2. Jung Hoo Lee — CF
3. Casey Schmitt — 2B
4. Matt Chapman — 3B
5. Rafael Devers — 1B
6. Willy Adames — SS
7. Bryce Eldridge — DH
8. Jesús Rodríguez — RF
9. Patrick Bailey — C

RHP. Adrian Houser

Padres

1. Jackson Merrill — CF
2. Manny Machado — 3B
3. Miguel Andujar — DH
4. Gavin Sheets — 1B
5. Fernando Tatis Jr. — 2B
6. Ramón Laureano — LF
7. Nick Castellanos — RF
8. Freddy Fermin — C
9. Sung-Mun Song — SS

RHP. Bradgley Rodriguez

Game #37

Who: San Francisco Giants (14-22) vs. San Diego Padres (21-14)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 12:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

It’s been an exciting few days of Cubs baseball at the corner of Clark and Addison. Last night the Cubs walked off the Reds in the bottom of the tenth inning for their second walkoff win in a row. Tuesday night Michael Conforto hit the first walk-off home run of his career and the first two-out, two-strike walk-off home run at Wrigley Field since the David Bote Ultimate Grand Slam in 2018. However, today I want to focus on something other than walk-offs, specifically, should we reconsider the cycle in an era where most of us would agree that being on base matters more than getting there via a single.

On Saturday, Ian Happ really powered the Cubs to victory en route to wait I propose should be considered a new type of cycle. First, he hit this monster home run [VIDEO].

That ball was absolutely demolished, hit 110.6 miles per hour off the bat and traveling 399 feet into the wind. It certainly gave the Diamondbacks pause the next time Happ ambled to the plate in the bottom of the third with runners at second and third. The D-backs intentionally walked Happ, much to the chagrin of the Wrigley faithful.

It didn’t seem that consequential at the time, but then in the sixth inning Happ hit a double down the right field line. He capped off quite the offensive day during his last at bat in the bottom of the eighth, scorching this triple to right center [VIDEO].

And now, dear Cubs fans, we have a bit of a conundrum. Ian Happ finished a single short of the cycle with an intentional walk. For all intents and purposes according to on base percentage, he did the thing. He had four plate appearances and got to each base in turn during all of them. He hit his way to the hardest parts of a cycle, and honestly looked so good doing it that the Diamondbacks just ceded first base to him rather than let him do more damage.

Admittedly, tweaking these types of rules is sure to upset the traditionalists. However, I’m not proposing that any old walk or hit by pitch can substitute for the single in a cycle. I’m proposing that in the very narrow instance where a batter only comes to the plate four times during a game with three of those plate appearances resulting in a double, triple and home run, if the opposing team has taken it upon themselves to take the bat out of the batter’s hands putting him on first intentionally in that fourth plate appearance, that should count as a modern baseball cycle. For what it’s worth, my colleague at BaseballHQ, Kris Olson agreed:

To be clear, I am not proposing we name this a Sanchez Cycle. But Ian Happ was robbed and should have a something akin to a cycle credited to his résumé. Perhaps we should call it the Happ Cycle, honestly. What say you, BCB?

Golden State Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob said his unsuccessful bid to buy the San Diego Padres assumed that the entire 2027 MLB season would likely be lost due to labor strife.

Lacob’s group was one of a handful of final bidders in the MLB auction, which was ultimately won by billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones for a league-record $3.9 billion.

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The sale came ahead of the potential MLB labor standoff. The current CBA expires at the end of this current season, and both sides are gearing up for what could be a prolonged fight over a salary cap, service time and other major issues.

Speaking at Sportico’s Invest Westconference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Lacob was asked how his group modeled the potential risk of games being lost.

“We assumed likely not a season next year,” Lacob said. “Or at least that it was a possibility.”

Giving an owner’s perspective, he added that he believed baseball would benefit from having more cost certainty in the form of both a salary floor and a salary cap. He said that would likely result in the same amount of money paid on players, but would spread that money out across more teams.

“It’s good for the league to have proper and appropriate competition,” he said. “It can’t be just the Warriors doing well in the NBA, it has to be all the teams. Otherwise you don’t have a great league.”

Lacob said his interest in the Padres was both personal—“I happen to like baseball a lot”—but also financial. He said the economics of MLB look similar to that in the NBA, where teams in both sports rely heavily on tickets, media, sponsorships, high-end hospitality and merchandise. 

“That’s what the businesses are,” he said. “It’s about local revenue generation. And I believe that we could be really good at doing that with a baseball team.”

On Feliciano’s winning bid, he added: “Some people have said it’s an overpay; it was a lot more than us, and I think we were second. But I think in the long run it will be a good investment, because I do believe in baseball.”

Lacob and his partner Peter Guber bought the Warriors in July 2010 for $450 million, at the time the highest price ever paid for an NBA franchise. The team is now worth $11.33 billion, according to Sportico’s latest valuations, more than any other team in the league.

Asked about the status of head coach Steve Kerr, who is in contract talks, Lacob declined to comment. He said the talks could have a resolution “today, tomorrow or in three weeks, I don’t know.”

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San Diego Padres (21-14) at San Francisco Giants (14-22), May 6, 2026, 12:45 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Oracle Park – San Francisco, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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